USA Wisconsin 1/350

In 1956 the destroyer EATON (DD510) zigged when she should have zagged.   The Wisconsin T-boned her with the resulting scratch to the paint.    The bow of the uncompleted Kentucky was grafted on to fix the boo boo

That is the NewJersey across the way,  not the Wisconsin giving birth Alien-style

And one of the four wound up wearing the bow of a non-completed sister--Kentucky, I think, which also changed OAL.

Ships are complicated things to build, and no matter how identical the plans, and even from the same yard, ships wind up different.    Even the pinnacle of modular ship design, the Spru-cans, are each a bit different  from each other, and that, before all the changes introduced along the way.

It's hard to appreciate just how much time ships spend in a yard.  And, that once in the clutches of the yard types, all bets are off.  The yard will weld things on wherever they can find a spot (and nary a care for some future modeler attempting to make sense of why, let alone how, they did this, or that, or the other).

I Believe she was 9" longer. I am not really sure.Someone else could ring here and correct us ,if we are wrong.   TANKERbuilder

Wasn't the Wisconsin something like 9" (yes, inches) longer than the rest of the class? (Or was it the New Jersey?)

Favorite class of ship, look forward to seeing yours completed.

If you go back you,ll see my post on the same project.I will tell you now there is a world of visible differences, between these grand ladies of the sea. The HELO landing area is fairly the same , but , the planking pattern from the aft of the deckhouse to the helo area is noticeably different.That,s a glaring issue right there. Now the tower is different , but you can modify the existing one with a file.

 The other thing is boats and where they are.She ,the" WHISKY"Had one on each side of the main deck just slightly aft (not even the full length of the boat,s hull)from the deckhouse.They left room for the unrep gear on both sides , although the tower (unrep) is mounted ONLY on the starboard side.

The rails on the 02 level around the missile areas is NOT vertical either.The stack platform is just that. A platform made of perforated walkway material like the walkways on top of frieght cars in railroading.You can get some of that on P.E. cut it in half lengthwise and custom fit it then rail it and "VIOLA " you have it.

There is much more , but , remember , I am working from the photos I took of the 1/96 scale model as I finished her out.  GOOD LUCK-any questions-contact  TANKERbuilder Right here on the site.

As noted above, they are the "same" ship in much the way that a B-17D is the same plane as a B-17G.

Or in the same way an M-3 Grant tank is the same as an M-3 Lee.

Truly, the differences are far larger, really--like FW-190A to FW-190D; an M-3 light tank to an M-5.

The length of time it took to build each of the Iowas meant there were changes between each one 9the way the bridges were enclosed or open being just one).  And all that before taking the service life into account., which encompasses more changes. 

New Jersey was activated four times, and has changes which reflect that fact.  Enough to spot the differences in WWII;  Korea; VN; and 80s-90s an interesting model collection even at 1/700.

Now, scrunch down to, oh, 1/1200 scale, and you could wing it and have any iowa represent the other (those 24" WWII numerals only being 0.02" tall more an act of faith; the 72" shaded numbers at 0.06" tall scarcely better).

That's my 2¢ at least--you'll still need another three for a beverage at Starbux . . .

The USS New Jersey and the USS Wisconsin had more differences that just the hull numbers and the names. For example If you are modelling them as they appeared in the 1980's to early 1990's, the ECM housings on the tower look very different.  Check the photos.

Bill

What period do you intend to represent?

During WWII the USN used smaller, unshaded numbers.   Iron Shipwright sells them

http://ironshipwrights.com/accessories.html 

Also during the war, the names were painted over to match the surrounding camouflage scheme.

As she appears today the Wisconsin has High Vis numbers

Hawk Graphics sells them http://www.hawk-graphics.com/

Of course there is the long out-of-print set by Dunagin Decals which has both, along with Battle-Es and bridge-wing salad bars.    

As far as letters,  find a set of N-scale railroad decals with appropriate font.   You will likely have to apply them individually